Technology helps retirees enjoy senior living

by Carla Griffin on July 27, 2012

Technological advances have helped seniors stay in touch with family members or even continue their education, but perhaps most significantly is that such strides have revolutionized the way some retirees live. A growing number of older adults are using high-tech implants to remove impediments that previously may have gotten in the way of them enjoying senior living, Next Avenue reports.

Although the use of implants is not revolutionary, what they’re being used for is, and they’re becoming more common in adults over 40. For instance, one Philadelphia-based surgeon has used a tiny ocular implant to help reduce the effects of age-related macular degeneration. The surgery is somewhat experimental, but for 74-year-old Ed Nungesser it made a world of difference.

“I was willing to do anything,” he told the news source. “I couldn’t read. To watch TV was very difficult. I couldn’t write on a straight line.”

The devices are not just limited to improving eyesight. Scientists are working on products that could even go as far to deliver medication through implants rather than through injections. For patients suffering from conditions like osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis, that could make a big difference.

It’s no surprise such advancements are being made given that older adults value staying active later in life more than ever before. A 2011 study from the SunAmerica Financial Group and Age Wave revealed what older adults expect out of retirement. The study, which surveyed more than 1,000 people, found 67 percent want to remain productive once they’ve lost the workforce.

“They have watched their mom and dad move to the sidelines and they don’t want that for themselves,” Jay Wintrob, president and CEO of SunAmerica Financial Group, told U.S. News and World Report.